Everything GREAT about Mig X: Revolution!
BTFF Wins: Mig X: Revolution is the first episode of BTFF: Sins & Wins, and specifically the first Win episode. It is a Win counter for Mig X: Revolution, written b Migster7. Spoilers, obviously. Review During the Movie Dedicated to: Toon, Jack, Alan, Yopo, Sci, and Sif. Thank you guys for helping me out, making me feel better about my writing, and being such amazing friends. I'll always remember and cherish each and every one of you. Alright, since this is a Wins episode, and since it would be awkward to go into detail the stuff that this brings to mind, I'm gonna keep it positive. This is more of a win to Mig himself than the movie. The people he mentions here, including myself, are the people who were most important to him at the time of writing this movie, and some of them still are. And even given the rough patches, let's say, he hit with some of these people not long after the fact, he kept them here. If there was ever a testament to what kind of person Mig is, this is it. They were the people who helped him get through a bunch of rough patches and eventually come around to making this masterpiece. And even though he has some severed ties here, he still gives them thanks. This is Mig. Be like Mig. (1) Figure: I never...I mean, I did see it coming, I guess. You could s-say that... (uneasy swallow) well, things do happen for a reason, you know? A-And...I can't really mess with the way things work. No one can (light chuckle). We just accept it, or watch as it consumes ourselves and entombs us in a state of depression or anger or...something worse. This entire piece of dialogue gets a win. In the sea of cringiness and try-hard edginess that is BTFF, seeing just a piece of dialogue this simple, deep, and pretty factual is so far beyond enjoyable. I legitimately can't describe how much I love this one opening piece of dialogue alone. Even in a world of superpowers and alien watches that change your DNA, you're still at the mercy of the universe and whatever tomfoolery it wants to put into your life. I'll be revisiting this line in the post-movie section, so keep it in mind. Fuck it, three wins. (4) Figure #2: Let me ask you something: have you been abused as a child? I'm starting to pick out the very minute detailing within your words. You seem...distressed, is the best way of putting it. In all fairness, any amount of universe tomfoolery could lead someone to have this outlook. Abuse, abandonment, betrayal, the list goes on. Now, that doesn't take away from anything, in fact it actually adds more to the previous line of dialogue. Obviously something traumatic had to happen to get them to the realization of this fact of life, where try as you might, the universe has other plans. And the next couple lines of dialogue show it's not a situation of just trying to figure out where this semi-nihilistic viewpoint came from or to get under Mig's skin. Miranda is just trying to have a deeper understanding of her upbringing to try to help him cope with whatever it is troubling him. Or at least be convincing enough to make us feel that's what's supposed to be going on. (5) Figure #2: I helped pay for your hospital visit, since your uncle was brutally murdered. Not sure what's more brutal, his murder, or you bringing it up like that. (6) Mig's body begins coming into view, first starting downwards; he is wearing black pants, with tears in them, and notable blood drenching the bottoms of his pants. Black Reaper reference? (7) Miranda: You don't need to give in to what your life has become. Don't be a part of it. Stay yourself. I've never been one for therapy but this is genuinely good advice, and even kinda hearkens back to what Mig's first line of dialogue is about. When life gives you lemons. Some people are completely content with making lemonade from what life gives them. If Mig's backlash is anything to go off of... Mig: (tearing up) STOP IT. SHUT UP. Dammit, SHUT UP! He's definitely channeling more of the Cave Johnson philosophy of making life take the lemons back. He doesn't want to make do with what he's got, especially since there's not a lot left. He's pushing away what life is trying to give him and it's justified to no end. I half expect him to turn into Hellfire, make the lemons combustible, and then burn life's house down with them. Sorry to make a comedic moment out of this so far beautifully crafted deep scene. It's just the only real comparison I could go for here. I'll give it five wins since 1. It's so well done and 2. It reminded me of Portal 2. (12) Miranda: (walking forward) Your uncle is dead. Your mother was too weak to survive, and your father? (The scenery around Mig begins to transmogrify; the walls begin peeling, exposing blood pouring out; the ground begins to crackle and shake, as if a 9.9 earthquake had just struck; Mig collapsed onto the ground, dropping his gun, and snapping his neck; Miranda continued walking, not phased). Miranda: You...you're an idiot, a failure, nothing. No one cares for you anymore, as you lost ALL of them. Face it, you're done. Give me the gun and I'll finish you off myself. No point in watching you struggle trying to end it yourself. I'd rather do it swiftly. (Mig yelled out in pain, and blood began pouring out of his eyes, rather than tears; the walls blew up into fragments, yet everything froze, with the exception of Mig and Miranda). (Miranda knelt down, grabbed the gun, and leaned over Mig's corpse; she twisted the gun in her hand, and aimed it directly at Mig's chest, pushing downwards to apply pressure). (Miranda's skin began to crack, and tear apart; she glowed all red, and contorted violently; the appearance of Terox replaced that of hers, and the skin disappeared with a gust of wind; everything around the two disappeared as well, and the faces of Virginia, Ryan, and Dan Rivers, as well as Wayne Rogers and Trinity Michael's, circled Mig, bloody and screaming in agony). Firstly, I'm gonna give a huge win to the detail here. Over detailing is a real thing that can happen to people, just as much as under detailing, and it can be a bit of a turn off for the reader. Mig, however, is at what I would consider a sweet spot for detailing, and this moment is a huge indicator of that. I can imagine every part of this vividly without it being an overwhelming amount of information about the scene. (13) Secondly, goddamnit. This twist. It's been a while since I've read MXR but I honestly thought I'd have some semblance of memory while reading it. And while I do, this caught me off guard again. And it just makes the brutally honest thing Miranda/Terox mentioned about Dan earlier even more brutal. (14) Terox: You aren't fun anymore. C'mon, man, I invited you to my house for some warm cookies and a cup of tea, and you get feisty? That's rude. I know this is only just the first Wins episode but Terox is always a win. He's definitely my favorite character Mig has made and is probably my favorite BTFF character in general. (15) Mig: (blood rolling down face) W-W-Why...am... Terox: Because, why not? You're a dumb ass, that's why you're here. Everything had led up to this moment. Terox plays off being the kind of sadistic fuck in such a way that it's comedic while also terrifying. Also I'm just imagining the voice of Miraak saying this kind of stuff. While it's only really for fun to give any BTFF series a casting, unless someone comes along and makes an audio series which I'd be 100% down for, Mig's choice of Peter Jessop as the guy to imagine as Terox was a great choice. (16) Mig: Why am I ALIVE? Why keep me here to suffer FOR ETERNITY? What day even is it? I've been here for years, it seems. I don't even know! Relatable. (17) (Ryan's face grew, almost engulfing Mig; he stared into the image of his father's eyes, watching as he transformed into Kurss; he began screaming, looking away). Terox: (laughing) Weakling. The only reason you are alive, really, is to watch. I just want you to watch. Terox is a good way to personify all the bad shit in your mind coming to the forefront and refusing to go away. That's what he's been doing to Mig this entire time. The descriptive nature of it and just the concept in general are very well done. (18) (Mig breathed in pain; Terox grabbed his head, pulling it upwards, to face him, and then shoved his sharpened fingers into his eye sockets). (Everything cuts to an ominous black, as screams of agony sound off, emulating from Mig). Yep. (19) A "Meanie Beanie" Installment The juxtaposition of this dark work with it being called a "Meanie Beanie" installment is somehow a win. (20) (Thick, dark clouds bombard the sky, eliminating any trace of anything inside; the faint glow of the full moon blinked through the clouds, but did not do much to illuminate the area; street lights were turned to their brightest, and many barren trees lined the roadways, with leaves scattered among the moist Earth, as it had recently stormed). - (Loud footsteps echoed among the concrete, from a small distance away down the street; the silhouette of a shadowed man, sporting an overcoat, became visible; he quickly stopped, turning back, and felt the breeze brush his overcoat back). - (The man swiftly turned back around to continue onward to his destination, this time picking up the pace; form a distance behind him, a darkened, inhuman arm emerged from the shadows, and clenched into a fist, with a black, mist-like substance circling around it). - (The substance glowed red suddenly, and began to pick up movement, lunging itself towards the man; the man turned slightly, but was too late, as this formed into the shadowed figure's hand, crushing him down). - (The figure pounced from the darkness, zooming down onto its prey; it had a large, red eye covering its entire face, and two eyes on his chest, with blood flowing between them). - (It slammed onto the man's back, caging him; appendages slammed into the man's arms, and then legs, and he began to be yanked up, on the figure's command). - (The figure lunged him into the air, its appendages still drilled into him; he began spinning him around, and slashing him up from the inside; the man yelled out at first, then fell silent, as blood sprayed everywhere). - (He then flicked the man's body into a tree, where his body broke in half, and collapsed in the puddle of leaves, turning them wine red). - (The figure then walked over to the man's body, and knelt down; he slurped up the blood as it poured out unevenly, until there was nothing left to be taken in). Have I already talked about how much I love Mig's descriptive writing? Yes? I'm doing it again. Wins for all of these. (29) (He poked his head up for a brief moment, and heard the faint ring of police sirens nearing the area; he smiled greatly, and got up). Figure: Perfect timing. It's pretty much always a bad thing when a character brutally murders someone and rejoices at the police arriving. (30) (The cars reached their halt, one in particular; the doors swung open in an obvious rush, and a man in a black suit rushed out; in the passenger seat, however, a kid with a black and orange jacket emerged, this being Mig; Mig, with normal, brown hair, and a casual appearance, stood, staring at the blue and red lights flashing on the pieces of the man's body that the figure had gorged on). There he is! (31) Mig: Do you really think Count Dracula's reincarnation could have pulled this off? Look at h--well, I suppose we shouldn't call that a him anymore. Dan: Shut up, this isn't funny. Humor while dealing with a serious situation is a pretty good coping mechanism, for the most part. (32) Sly: Well, shit. SHIT. Crap. How did you guys let this happen...AGAIN!? Sly's opening dialogue is written in a slightly odd fashion but Dan reveals soon that he's been drinking, so it's actually a pretty good fashion. (33) Mig: Let's think logically for a-- (Sly clamped his hand over Mig's mouth, and walked forward towards Dan more, intimidating him; he breathed in his face like an angry bull, and relieved a heavy sigh). Sly: (silently) Your nephew shouldn't take part in this. Now, I know he's had his fair share of experience in the past, but this is now. If there was ever a way to make me dislike a character... this is it. Even if he's drunk, what he's saying is still a bit irritating. If Mig's had his fair share of experience in the past, he really should take part in what's happening now. That's just how it works. That said, I'm giving it a win. Sly isn't a likable character and that's the point. He's written to not only be a guy we dislike thanks to him being a bit of a dick, but it's even more irritating when you consider that he's technically on Mig and Dan's side, at least in the way of taking care of things like this. (34) Post-Movie Something I noticed early on in production of this Wins episode while re-reading this movie is just how much of an antithesis Mig and Terox are to each other. Mig's first line in this movie is about how you can do what you want but ultimately the universe is in control. Terox's philosophy that he's had his entire life is to go against what the universe has in store for you. Terox was born an Impure Aqasian, and because of that he was essentially born so he could die, and he wasn't gonna have any of the universe's plans for him. Mig, on the other hand, was raised quite well and loved for five years before the death of his parents, and even then, Dan cared for him. Even if, y'know, Dan was the one to put the Gamma energy into Mig to begin with. Point is, even down to their backstories, the two are opposites. Mig was raised loved, Terox was raised hated, things began to go downhill for Mig during Terox's plan to make things go uphill for himself, and their opposing philosophies are reflections of that. You can make any two characters be opponents to each other and it be good, but it's even better when they are such literal opposites to each other, such as with these two. I also really like that it's Terox who is Mig's opposite in this way and not Gim. Sure, it'd be cool for the evil twin to have an opposite life and philosophy to that of the protagonist, but I think, after reading this, I like it better when it's not. Final Score